Love Actually: Planning Considerations for Marriage, Divorce, Cohabitation, the Death of a Spouse, and More
Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
Financial Planning Tips for the Sandwich Generation with Sherry Finkel Murphy
Once Removed Episode 38: The Legacy Mindset: What It Is and How to Build It
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
The Case of the Laughing Heirs
The Secret Child
Welcome to 'Splitting Heirs'
Ruder Ware's Elder Law Team Recognizes National Special Needs Law Month - Part 2
Law Brief: Alexis Gruttadauria and Rich Schoenstein Discuss Why You Need an Estate Plan
Inheritance Data - Digital Planning Podcast
On April 28, 2025, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued its opinion in In re Estate of Bogren. The court addressed a matter of first impression in Minnesota – whether a disclaimer of property must clearly state the value of...more
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld a lower court’s ruling that Kositzka, Wicks and Company (KWC) breached its fiduciary duty to Edward Joseph Ryan, awarding his estate $999,050 in damages, attorney...more
In a September 2024 decision, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that an estate beneficiary did not invoke the in terrorem clause under his father’s will by submitting an affidavit in support of his brother’s challenge to...more
Carole M. Bass and Cara Koss co-authored this article. The authors have long raised as an issue the impact personhood legislation could have on assisted reproduction and, by extension, on estate and trust administration...more
In In the Estate of Johnson, a child of the decedent accepted over $143,000 from the decedent’s estate and then decided to challenge the will due to mental capacity and undue influence. No. 20-0424, 2021 Tex. LEXIS 426 (Tex....more
Intentional interference with expected inheritance (IIEI) was recognized as a legal claim in California about eight years ago in Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039. Last week, the Court of Appeal issued the first...more
Providing for your children is one of the primary purposes of estate planning, but what happens to your carefully crafted trust if you had children you did not know about when you created the trust? Or, what if you have...more
It’s unremarkable that California courts require that notice be given to affected beneficiaries in trust and probate proceedings. After all, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no person will be deprived of life,...more
It is widely understood in California that inherited assets, unlike assets earned from labor, are the separate property of the receiving spouse. But what if the assets do not come directly from a parent and instead pass from...more
In the absence of a trust that allows assets to pass without opening probate, the California probate process lasts for at least six months and can run much longer depending on the size of the estate and the nature of assets....more
No contest clauses are included in wills and trusts to discourage dissatisfied beneficiaries from challenging the document’s validity. Because enforcement of these clauses results in disinheritance, the California Probate...more
Many California will and trust disputes arise from ambiguity in the document with respect to who is entitled to an asset. Maybe the document was hazy from the start or perhaps circumstances have changed such that the rightful...more
If you are a beneficiary in a will that contains a no-contest clause, and you don't like what the will directs, be careful before you question its validity. You just might lose everything....more
In Fletcher v. Whitaker, a brother withdrew $25,000 from a joint bank account while the owner of the funds (decedent) was still alive. No. 02-17-00138-CV, 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 8329 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth October 11, 2018, no...more
In Archer v. Anderson, Jack, who had no children, executed a will leaving his estate to his brother and his brother’s children, the Archers. No. 16-0256, 2018 Tex. LEXIS 611 (Tex. June 22, 2018). ...more
There has not been much case law of particular relevance in the T&E area since our last newsletter, but three recent federal court decisions—one from the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and two from the United States District...more